Process of refining vegetable and animal oils.



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,cult, however,

cHaRLEsnAsKERvInLE; ornnw YORK, N. Y.

' PROCESS OF REFINING VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL OILS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BASKERVILLE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain new and'useful'Improvements in Processes of Refining Vegetable and Animal Oils,of which the followingis a specification. In refining vegetable andanimal oils, it is customary to neutralize the free acids present in thecrude oil by agitating it with an aqueous solution of an alkali. It isdifli- -to diffuse the alkaline solution uniformly throughout the oil,while the soaps resultino from the reaction are apt to dissolve in theoil, or form an emulsion thtlerewith, rendering their separation difli-Cu ta According to .the present process, the crude oil is agitated for ashort period with an organic absorbent impregnated with an alkali,especially with a fibrous vegetable material, such as wood-pulp, unsizedpaper,

' fibrous cellulose or cotton, which has been treated with a solution ofacaustic alkali or carbonate. The treatment'is carried out at{atmospheric or low temperatures, and the alkali in the absorbent isbrought into inti- =mate contact with and effectively neutralizes. theacid contents, the resulting soaps beingiabsorbed by the fibrouscarrier. The absorbent also acts to largely decolorize the oil.

The process is finished by merely filtering out the absorbent andcontained impurities. The cells of the vehicle used as the absorbentpresent an enormous surface coated with alkaline material, which,owingto its finely divided state, readily combines -with the acid present.The water in the vehicleand also in the oil cooperates with the alkalinematerial in eifecting this'combination, and

in saturating the vehicle with the soap,

. owing to the surface tension between the wet alkaline cellulose andthe soap.

Example 400 grams of very dark cottonseed oil, containing 1.85% of free.fattyacids,

' were agitated with about Zgrams of wood pulp previously treated with aten-per cent. solution of sodium hydroxid, in amount 'tralize the ,acidin the oil.

was continued for-ten minutes in a suitable slightly in excess of thatnecessary to neu-- The agitation.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 15 1913.Serial No. 748,606.

Patented Aug. 4, 191a;

mixing apparatus, whereupon the absorbent and contained impurities werefiltered out. The product was a light-yellow oil, having an acidity ofbut 0.14 per cent., suitable for use as a food-prbduct and far superiorto a similar oil which had received the customarytreatment with sodaash. The term saponifiable oils is used here- 1n to include equivalentsubstances, such as:

fats.

I claim: I 1. The process of refining saponifiable oils, which consistsin treating the oil with an organic absorbent impregnated with arefining agent.

The process of refining p ifiable oils, which consists in treating theoil with 'a' fibrous vegetable material impregnated with a refiningagent? 3.,The process of refining saponifiable oils containing acids,which consists in agitating the oil with a fibrous vegetablematerial-impregnated with an alkali.

43 171.16 process of refining saponifiable oils containing acids, whichconsists in agitating the oil with a fibrous vegetable materialimpregnated with an alkali, and filtering out the fibrous material andcontained impurities. v

I 5. The process of refinin cottonseed oil containing acid, whichconsists in agitating the oil with a fibrous vegetable materialcontaining an amount of alkali slightly in excess of that required toneutralize the acid, and filtering out. the fibrous material andcontained impurities.

6. The process of refining saponifiable oils containing acids, whichconsists in moistening a highly cellular an alkaline solution, andcontacting the moist vehicle with the oil, thereby forming within thecellular vehicle a precipitate of the reaction-product, said precipitatebeing retained within said vehicle by reason of the surface tensionbetween said moist cellular vehicle and reaction-product.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.CHARLES BASKERVILLE.

.Witnesses:

'THoMAs F. OKnnrrn, I

ALEX F.- FRENCH.

organic vehicle with

